Why you’re cruising for a bruising if you don’t use your indicators

Paul Fisher

New survey reveals 34% of British drivers are most annoyed by drivers who don’t indicate – making this more popular than speeders, cyclists and bad parking combined

Results suggest city drivers are the worst at using their indicators, with 44% of urban drivers attributing their road rage to people who don’t indicate

The answer was also popular with higher earners, as 60% of drivers making over £150k cited this as their greatest road rage trigger

Twice as many British drivers are enraged by people who don’t indicate as by speeding drivers, according to a new online survey on UK road rage.

A study of the most common road rage triggers, conducted by Car Finance 2 Go, has found that many more British drivers are enraged by people who don’t indicate than by any other driving faux pas.

What winds you up on the roads?

1,002 Brits were asked what really grinds their gears – and a massive 34% of participants cited not indicating as their ultimate pet hate – while only 16% consider speeding drivers the worst offenders on the road.

This comes at a critical time for British motorists, following the Independent’s report earlier this year that road deaths were set to rise for a third consecutive quarter.

After a five-year decrease in traffic police budgets, this sudden spike in those killed or seriously injured (KSI) on the road looks like the culmination of this budget cut – and with lazy indicators becoming the primary target of UK road rage, safety appears to be on the British agenda.

Data revealed in this study suggests there might be a connection between where you live and how you drive.

What winds you up on the roads?

According to data found in this survey, city drivers are the main offenders, with 44% of urban dwellers declaring war on non-indicators, compared with 29% in the suburbs and 19% of those living in rural areas.

And there’s more – the data also seems to show that higher earners take indicating particularly seriously.

While only 23% of those earning up to £24,999 a year expressed anger at drivers who don’t indicate, this percentage shoots to 50% for people bringing in between £50k and £74,999 - and a majority of 60% for high earners making over £150k per annum.

Long considered the scourge of drivers across Britain, cyclists came off relatively squeaky clean with a negligible 9% of the votes.

Proving a less popular road rage trigger than non-indicators, speeders, slow drivers and rush hour traffic, this study suggests that bike-lovers might not deserve their unflattering on-road rep.

A total of 13 cyclists were killed on London’s roads in 2014, according to the BBC – and 8 have already died on the capital’s roads so far this year – while forward-thinking new schemes are being implemented in other parts of the world to protect the cycling masses.

Other popular answers from this study included rush hour traffic, with 19% of men declaring this their greatest road rage trigger – versus only 15% of women surveyed.

Men aged 35-44 were the biggest victims of rush hour rage, showing the least patience when it comes to the early morning car queues.

Back-seat drivers came off best, as the least popular option of the bunch with only 4% of the votes. Unsurprisingly, 18-24 year olds were the most bothered by this on-road epidemic –likely the result of unwanted driving support from their more experienced passengers.